


Chance Encounters in Fairburn, Georgia

by SpaceCyborg



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Compliant, Crossover, It's my first time using this site tagging is difficult, Izuku In MCU, Light Angst, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:41:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22228057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceCyborg/pseuds/SpaceCyborg
Summary: Tony Stark rarely donned his suit these days, but the mysterious and inexplicable energy spike only yards from his cabin was reason enough. Or, the fic where Izuku Midoriya is transported to Fairburn, Georgia, and meets one of the greatest heroes of an entirely different Earth.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 21
Kudos: 512





	Chance Encounters in Fairburn, Georgia

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written a proper story in years. Please leave feedback.

"Morgan, come to daddy."

He really couldn't believe this was happening. It had been, what, 4 years since Thanos? Or was it closer to 5 now? Tony couldn't remember. It was easier to not remember, anyways. Keeping track of what he had was working much better for his mental state then dwelling on what he had lost. Which is why, of course, he's fiercely protective of what he has: his cabin, his wife, and the light of his life, Morgan. God help whatever had landed in the woods surrounding his home. Tony might be half a decade out of practice heroing, but he sure as hell wasn't going to go down without a fight.

The young girl giggled, and clambered over to her father after leaving the small tent that had been set up just outside the home, clearly not sensing the potential danger lurking just beyond the trees. Tony ushered her inside the humble home, guiding Morgan to the warm embrace of Pepper, who was looking at her husband with a grimace. She had been at his side for far too long. Tony wasn't one to smother his daughter, often letting her get scraped or bumped. Nothing serious, of course, but Tony liked for the girl to learn her own way; after all, he claimed, his 'little mechanic' would get used to an idea going south once she was old enough to be in the garage with her dad.

"Stay here," Tony said with a tight jaw, and after a quick kiss to both girls' foreheads, he grabbed his arc reactor, fastened it to his chest, and set out the door to the source of his worry: the sudden burst of light that had emitted from the nearby forest moments earlier.

Double tapping the triangular blue light, he felt the old sensation of metal creeping out and wrapping around his frame. All this done out of sight of the house- even though he knew that Pepper had sensed his anxiety, Morgan had been blissfully unaware, but even at her young age she was able to recognize the suit only came out in dire situations. There had only been one instance where Tony put on the suit, and that had been when black bear had meandered on to the Stark residence while Morgan was out playing. There was no need for the young girl to be thrown into a panic.

"Alright, Friday, talk with me," Tony murmured as the face piece slid into position, "what's ruining my day?"

"I'm not sure, boss," came Friday's accented reply. Tony's eyebrows furrowed. Not the answer he had hoped for. "Whatever it was, the energy it threw off is unlike anything we've ever seen,"

"Wonderful," Tony sighed, "Alright. Can you calculate where it's coming from, at least?"

A slight pause, then, "About 47 meters to your Northwest."

Tony angled himself, and attempting to make as little noise as possible (no easy task, mind you- metal boots and sticks isn't the most silent combination), he slowly inched towards the designated epicenter.

"Doesn't look like there's any physical disturbance," Tony muttered to himself as he approached. He stopped short of the goal, opting instead to rely on his assistant once more: "Friday, heat signatures?"

"Just one, boss," came the affirmative, "though it appears they're unconscious."

"And how about that energy spike from earlier? Radiation? Banner might be a hero for the people these days, but his early work left a lot to be desired."

"No Hulks today, boss. The energy seemed to be harmless."

"Well, your guess is as good as mine." With that, Tony finally made his way to the source, and found exactly what had been said: one person, sprawled out. Tony took in all he could see from his position: it was a smaller frame, belonging most likely to a young teen, and they were wearing some strange, forest green jumpsuit with thick black lines forming a pattern. On top of this, the suit had long white gloves that reached past the elbows, ending with a thick collar. Similarly, the boots they were wearing went to about the mid-thigh, though these were black, as opposed to white. As Tony got closer, he noticed other details: a hood, not in use, that appeared to mimic the look of a bunny, and a silver object fastened around the neck.

"Well, this is... something," Tony into the open air, having retracted his helmet. He walked forward, grabbed a shoulder of the body, and turned so their back was laying on the ground. Tony got a better look. Clearly a boy, with freckles and green hair.

"But what the hell is a kid doing in a costume like this?" Tony asks to nobody, but instantly regrets doing so as imagines fill his mind of a young boy, only in high school, eyes filled with wonder as he peered out the window of the jet. "Are we really going to Berlin, Mr. Stark?" He asked, still staring out the-

'Damnit! Stop!' Tony scolded himself. 'This is not the time!' Tony crouched down before the child, and inspected him. Cuts, gashes, scrapes, bruises: all sorts of things littered the boy's body like a twisted painting.

"Friday," he spoke, "These can't all be from the fall, can they?"

With a certain hesitance that's only an AI of Stark's could have, the affirmative came, and Tony looked into the sky. "Okay, so a kid with battle wounds drops into the forest after a flash of light and energy that can't be explained. Lovely."

He looked back down into the kid's eyes-

Wait. Eyes? Weren't those closed?

A blinding sting shocks Tony back into reality. Literally shocked- small bolts of bright green lightning had connected with Tony's cheek when the punch the kid had evidently thrown landed. Tony cursed, and his helmet quickly snapped back into place. Stark rose into a fighting position, palms facing the lightning child's direction. A sharp whine sounded as the iconic circles lit a brilliant blue. Of course, Tony made sure to make the blasts non-lethal, but it would keep the kid subdued.

"Look, kid, I already did Shakespeare in the park once, and I don't want to do it again," Tony called out. He saw the determined eyes of the green-clad boy become clouded with confusion, evidenced by the creases in his forehead. He returned Tony's call in... not English.

"Friday?" Tony asked quizzically. "Japanese, boss," was the fast reply. "I'm working on a translation, should be rea-" "...ut if you're a villain, I'll take you down too! No matter what!"

'Well, at least he's got heart,' Tony thought to himself. 'Though not a big fan of being called a villain.' The last person to think that way of him was the one bird guy Pet-

Tony clenched his teeth. He can't get distracted. First, he's gotta talk down the very on-edge teenager in front of him, staring him down with a nervous, watery smile, but eyes that that were ready to take any assault the armor-clad hero might throw.

"I'm gonna talk to him. Translate me."

"Ready when you are, boss." Was the chipper reply.

"I think we got off to a bad start there, Broccoli Top. I'm not a villain, see?" The easy-going nature Tony had aimed for was put-off somewhat by the stiff, robotic Japanese that Friday was providing, but nonetheless, the child looked less guarded, even muttering out a confused, "Not a villain...?"

"Not at all," Tony punctuated this the signature, soft whine of his palms de-powering. He held his arms near his head in a 'surrender' fashion.

The child, confused and conflicted, slowly lowered his hands away from his fighting stance, and put them at his sides. He wasn't relaxed, however: Tony could see the tension in his arms and legs. If Tony made a move too quickly, he was sure this boy would spring back into his defense.

"Friday, I'm gonna suit. Give me the glasses and an earpiece though, I still gotta communicate with this kid." Tony muttered to his artificial assistant.

"Boss, are you sure?" Friday fretted in a semi-worried tone.

"Yeah, I don't think he'll be too much of a threat. Besides, it's not like the suit can't go back on."

Hearing this, Friday executed his command, and the metal slowly began collapsing in on itself. As Tony had expected, the shifting armor started the boy into raising fists once again, but the determination quickly gave way to a thinly veiled awe as he realized the suit was condensing into a small, compact triangle.

Tony smiled as easily as he could. "Look, I'm completely helpless. If you still wanna punch me, go ahead, but I promise I'm not a villain."

The boy seemed to finally be content, as tension lifted off his shoulders. He seemed to finally realize his location, having only focused on the threat at hand. Tony watched as the green-haired teen scanned his surroundings, and turning back to the now glasses-clad man, asked a single question.

"Wh... where's my classmates?"

'Classmates?' Tony asked himself mentally. 'The hell kind of school trip was he going on?' The boy was still looking at him expectantly, however, so he didn't have much time to dwell.

"Listen, kid... you were passed out not too far from my back yard." Tony pursed his lips, then added, "Alone."

The boy obviously didn't like that answer, as he balled a fist. He saw a storm brewing in the child's mind, and interjected. "Listen, you're still pretty banged up. Can I take you back to my house? We've got some first aid stuff that can help you out, and maybe we can... we can figure out what you're doing here."

The boy looked hesitant, but as adrenaline left his system, the sheer exhaustion he felt strong armed him into accepting Tony's offer.

The pair walked in silence back through the woods, Tony's AI guiding them back via his glasses. The walk wasn't particularly long, and would've been done in complete silence, had Tony's newfound companion not spoken up. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" The older-man glanced to the green-haired boy trudging along to his left. "What for?"

"For, uh... p-punching you..." he stammered out, looking down to his feet. Tony only chuckled. "Kid... I've had a moon dropped on me. You're fine." Granted, Tony didn't like talking about what happened on Titan. But honestly, this kid had looked dejected all day and Tony couldn't help but try and cheer him up somehow. Besides, he's too tired to actually ask-

"You what?!" The boy yelped, looking at Tony like a puppy that had just been handed a new tennis ball. "That's so cool! How did that happen?! How did you get out! What sort of quirk lets someone throw a moon? Was it a literal moon, or was that exaggeration. Well, or course it has to be exaggeration, nobody could actually throw an entire moon- unless the other's quirk let them throw moon-rock like substances? It would explain-"

Tony could only stare at the boy muttering beside him, seemingly becoming sucked into his own mind. It was a situation he was familiar with, funnily enough. Peter had talked to himself like that in the lab whenever-

'Damnit, what is with these thoughts today?' Sure, Tony missed Peter more than anyone knew, but he hadn't thought this much about the boy since... well... the first few years post-Thanos. In any case, Tony interrupted the teen's flow of thought, only to be met with a sheepish blush.

"Sorry... it's a bad habit..." he whispered shyly. "It's not every day you get to meet a new pro-hero..."

Tony was curious about the boy's word choice. Quirks. Pro-heroes. It was a window into the child's life, and one that Tony was going to peer into.

"Heroes, huh? Who else have you met?"

"Oh! Well, I go to U.A., so I get taught by lots of pros! There's Mr. Aizawa- uh, that is, Eraserhead- and of course Present Mic teaches us English-" at that, the boy stopped his talk, which surprised Tony, because he had been expecting a ramble about these other people Tony had never heard of until they had arrived to the cabin. Even more surprising, the boy had stopped walking, eyes once again suspicious. "Speaking of that... you... you were speaking English earlier. And your Japanese has been all robotic, like it's translated. Wh... why do you only speak English?" The tone was accusatory, defensive, and yet, Tony could sense the nerves that accompanied them.

Tony ran his hand through graying hair. "I... well... don't pass out on me. Kid, you're in the middle of Georgia. This is the United States."

"Oh." The boy didn't have much to say after that, the duo walking the rest of the way to the house in silence only broken by the crunch of fallen sticks and dried leaves.

Tony's mind wandered. 'Eraserhead? Present Mic? Never heard of them.' was the thought. 'There hasn't been any reports of new heroes since... well, actually, that one woman saved me from space, but still... from what I can tell, all the hero work has been left to Hulk and Natasha.'

Tony considered the possibility of vigilantism. 'I mean, this kid says they taught him at... U.A., was it? But then why would-' thoughts were cut short as the familiar sight of the cabin broke through the trees. Tony nudged his equally lost-in-thought partner. "We're here."

The boy gave a timid nod, though Tony couldn't tell if it was from being around new people, or from the revelation that he was extraordinarily far from home. Reaching up, he held open the door of the cabin, and the child shuffled inside. Tony quickly stepped in behind and called out, "Pep? I'm back!"

Said woman quickly approached from a separate room, relief visible. "Oh, thank God. What was it? Are you h..." Pepper's question trailed as she registered the newcomer. "Who is...?"

"Oh, this? This is... uh... kid, I don't think I ever got your name." On hearing the second half of Tony's y'all get converted to Japanese, Pepper's face bore an even more confused expression.

The boy jolted to attention, seemingly out of whatever funk he was in, cheeks a light tint of pink. "I-Izuku Midoriya!" He squeaked out.

"Tony," Pepper asked in a low tone, "what's going on?"

"I have a few ideas, none of them good," he sighed in response, and then, turning to the meek boy, said, "Well, I'm sure you know who I am. This is my wife, Pepper. She'll bandage you up a bit,"

Pepper shot her husband a look, eyes conveying the thousands of questions she wanted to ask, but none the less, offered her hand and said with a warm smile, "C'mon, we'll get you patched up."

The boy just looked confused, looking to the elder man in the room. "I-I'm sorry but... wh-what did she say?"

Tony slapped a palm to his forehead. 'Duh.' After a small huff of amusement at his own mistake, he spoke out into the air, "Friday, where did I put that universal translated thing Nebula gave to me?"

The child- Izuku, apparently- widened his eyes in wonder as a female voice rang out throughout the home. Tony twitched part of his lips upwards in small smirk. Sure, the tech was nearly 15 years old now, but it still seemed to blow the minds of anyone not used to it.

"You put in a box under the bed, boss," and so Tony set off to retrieve the item, after informing the rest of the party he'd be back quickly.

Returning, he fastened the small object to Izuku's ear, and said, "There, try saying something."

Izuku looked surprised, obviously understanding what Tony had said in English (though the boy heard Japanese) and hesitantly said, "H...hello?"

Tony beamed, and looked to his wife for confirmation. She had a similarly pleased look. "It works," she said simply.

Izuku was in awe, Tony could tell. It didn't help that the development caused the boy to start a mumble storm, words spilling out so quickly and quietly the translating device proved to be of absolutely no help.

Pepper gently took Izuku's hand, which shocked him out of his ramble. "Ah! S-sorry!"

"It's fine, Izuku," she reassured. "C'mon, we need to get those wounds cleaned."

She tugged his hand, guiding him towards the bathroom where the kept medical supplies. They were getting low again, mostly because Morgan had taken a liking to running at her young age. Nevertheless, Pepper fell into familiar routine of alcohol for cleaning, and bandaging for healing. She gave him sympathetic pats whenever the young boy hissed from the cleaning.

After they were done, and Pepper bent over to pick up the costume that had been discarded in favor of cleaning, the woman heard Izuku speak for the first time since they had been alone.

"Ah... Mrs. P-Pepper? Or is... can I call you that?" He asked shyly, head lowered, though emerald eyes peering at her from behind long, forest green bangs.

Pepper chuckled silently to herself. "Just Pepper is okay, Izuku," she said in a warm tone."

"O-okay!" He said, sitting up a little straighter, then deflating as he continued. "But... am... am I supposed to know your... your h-husband?" He asked, once again a timid teen.

Pepper looked at him in confusion. "Not many people don't know who Iron Man is..." she said gently.

Izuku squirmed a bit under her soft gaze. "S-sorry... I'm just... not that caught up with American pro-heroes..." he muttered.

'American? Does Japan have an entirely separate hero team that has stayed off the radar?' Shaking those thoughts aside, Pepper smiled, though she could tell that it was much thinner than her previous ones, as it was tainted by confusion and worry.

"Well," she began, adopting the warmest tone she could muster, "you can talk with Tony all you want later. Right now, you need rest," she finished. She has noticed Izuku's dropping eyes while bandaging,

In perfect timing, Izuku's mouth opened for a long yawn, and once done, he smiled sheepishly. "Guess I am pretty tired..." he said softly.

Pepper smiled, then led him to a guest bedroom. As the boy clambered into bed, she said, "I'll try and find some of Tony's clothes for you to wear. Just rest up, okay?" The nod that came in response was slow, chained by exhaustion, so Pepper shut off the lights, and slipped quietly from the room.

The day quietly slipped into dusk, the surprise guest having slept through it all. Tony had just put his daughter to rest (well, attempted to- Tony knew she'd be up to sneak out and catch Tony working on something or another). Husband and wife reclined in their living room, soft light from lamps illuminating the pair as one flipped though a gardening magazine, and the other gazed at the wall in front of him, lost in thought.

Pepper sighed, placed the magazine on the coffee table. Looking at Tony, she asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing much," was the reply, though the man's eyes were still glazed over.

"Tony," Pepper began, with a hint of impatience, "I know you. Something is bothering you."

Tony finally turned himself to face his wife, refocusing his attention on the conversation. "I looked into what he was talking about," Tony began after a moment of silence. "On the walk, he mentioned a school. U.A. Doesn't exist." Tony's eyes bore deep into his wife's, and she could see the questions and potential answers swimming inside the genius's mind. "The teachers, too. He said they were heroes. Present Mic, Eraserhead. I did a deep search, nobody like that exists."

Pepper pursed her lips, before admitting quietly, "He doesn't know you, either."

"Huh?" Confusion was written across Tony's face. It wasn't from a place of egotism- those days had long since passed- but genuine confusion. Tony hadn't been an active hero for nearly five years, but Izuku still would've been old enough to remember the Decimation. And even then, the Battle of New York had made Tony Stark a household name across the globe.

Tony sat back, eyes once again glazed over in thought. Pepper stared at her husband, inspecting his profile. Eyes traced the subtle wrinkles formed by age and stress, before darting up to the hair that was slowly becoming peppered by gray and white. The remained like this for a few moments, before Pepper spoke, "I'm going to go check on Izuku, okay?"

Tony nodded his head, then responded, "I... I think I'm just gonna head to bed, Pep." He leaned over to peck a kiss to her lips, then rose and headed off towards their bedroom. Pepper watched his retreating figure and sighed. She knew that the early bed meant he was preparing for sleepless nights ahead. Tony Stark had found a puzzle, and wouldn't be stopped until the puzzle was solved.

Pepper did and she had said and went to the guest room. Peeking through the door, she saw that the green-haired teen was still fast asleep. Whatever fight had he had been through clearly took a lot of him. Pepper closed the door, headed to her shared bedroom with Tony, and retired for the night.

Morning came, as it always did, and when Tony opened his eyes, he was already reeling. His dreams had been plagued by images of orange worlds, and dust and ash filling the air, and kids fair too young apologizing for it all and-

Coffee. Tony needed coffee. Stumbling into his kitchen, he grabbed the first mug he could find and jammed it under the machine that would provide his distractions. The press of the button to start the contraption was probably too forceful, but Tony really couldn't care too much.

Also, where the hell was Pepper? Usually she'd be out here before him, and she wasn't in bed, and she couldn't be with Morgan already, because the girl slept like a rock once she actually went to bed and absolutely wouldn't be up at the ungodly hour of- Tony squinted at the clock- 6:39 A.M.

A soft ding notified Tony his beverage was prepared, and he grabbed it quickly, relishing in the warmth it gave his hands. Tony finally felt the edge ebb away and he drained the drink as quickly as possible. Okay, he was calm, he was okay, it was all oka-

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony cussed loudly, dropping the mug, and it shattered all along the hardwood floor. He snapped his head up at whoever the hell dared to address him like that, because everyone, EVERYONE, knew not to fucking call him that. Well, everyone except the mortified green-themed boy that was staring at him.

"I-I'm so sorry! Did I startle you?! I didn't meant, I-I swear! H-here, it's... it's okay, I can clean it up!" Izuku yelped out, clearly upset about the situation he had caused. Tony sighed, dragged a hand across his face, and held up a hand to stop Izuku's endless apologies.

Pepper wandered in, asking, "Tony? Are you okay? I heard something break but I was throwing out the old banda-" she cut off, seeing the broken mug around Tony, and asked gently, "one of those nights, huh?"

She didn't wait for a response as she grabbed a broom and made her way over. She looked towards the teen, who was frozen stiff, and said, "I think you'll be more comfortable in the living room, Izuku." Then, glancing to her husband, said, "You too, Tony. I can take care of the mug," she added when she noted the protest springing to Tony's lips.

Tony made his way over to the couch, meeting Izuku, who was stiff as a rod, and staring at the hands folded in his lap. He was wearing one of Tony's old shirts, a faded Black Sabbath shirt, but the boy was much shorter than Tony, so he was near swimming in it. The sight made Tony snort, which, if possible, made the young teen straighten even more. In an effort to relieve some of the tension, Tony said to Izuku, "Tell me more about heroes in Japan. You mentioned a school? How does that work?"

Like a switch, the stiffness turned from tension to genuine excitement, and Izuku began rambling. Tony smiled softly. It was so easy to get the boy talking about what he loved. Just like... just like Peter. Tony scowled, and turned his mind back to what Izuku was saying, letting the information about unknown heroes and strange policies wash over him.

A certain something Izuku mentioned caused Tony to jump in. "Sorry, you said regulations?"

Izuku bobbed his head excitedly. "Yeah! The government requires all pro heroes are registered! They really wanted to prevent vigilantes, so they made it illegal."

"God, Steve would hate Japan, then," Tony said with a huff as he leaned back into his spot on the couch.

"Steve?" The boy asked quizzically.

"Captain America," was the flippant reply, with a tone of explanation, as if it would resolve the identity issue. Judging by Izuku's look, it didn't. "Y'know, Cap. Fought in WWII? American hero? Walking propaganda poster?"

Everything went right over Izuku's head, Tony could tell. "Did he work with All Might in his younger days?" Izuku asked hesitantly, to which Tony replied, "Kid, I don't even know who All Might is."

Tony swore he saw personal offense on the green boy's face. "You don't know All Might?! But he's the greatest hero ever! In his debut as a pro, he saved- wait, let me show you," Izuku patted his pockets, then realized his phone had yet to be seen after he randomly appeared in this place. Shyly, he looked at Tony. "Uh," he stammered, "C-can I-"

Tony handed Izuku his own phone, which Izuku graciously accepted. Tony watched as he furiously tapped at the screen, only for his face to melt into confusion. "Huh? Did they take it down...?" He muttered confusedly, before tapping something else in. Tony watched as the confusion grew.

"I- I don't understand," He flipped the phone to show Tony, and the elder saw the words "All Might" return no results.

Tony stared at the child before asking, "Hey kid? Weird question. What's the population right now?"

Izuku's eyebrow furrowed to the point of nearly touching each other. "W-wha-"

"On Earth." Tony cut him off.

"I- I- think it's about 7 billion-"

Tony fell backwards, draping his arm over his face so that only his mouth remained visible.

"Mr. Stark- what's going on?" Tony didn't reply, instead saying out to the open air, "Friday, find everything you can on string theory and put it on my laptop. I've got reading to do,"

"String theory?" Izuku asked, to no response. Tony simply lied for a few minutes, before bolting upright and clamping the boy's shoulder. "You hungry? I am. Breakfast?"

The day passed like this, Tony on a strange edge, while Izuku awkwardly stood around. At some point, when Tony had taken Morgan out somewhere outside, Izuku asked about going home. Pepper had smiled, and responded that they'd contacted the embassy and getting him back to school. She didn't mention that the embassy had replied and said Izuku Midoriya wasn't a resident of their nation.

Day became dusk, dusk became night, and Pepper found herself watching as Tony tinkered with a hologram in their living room. It appeared to be a floating circular ring, with a red line racing around it. The program flashed red, displayed an error symbol, and Tony frowned.

"What's this?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his torso. He looked at her with weary eyes. 

"This is going to sound insane," he said bluntly.

Pepper shot him an incredulous look. "Tony, look at the world we live in and tell me things can sound insane,"

Tony let a stream of air blow from his noise. He looked away from her eyes, back towards the hologram now behind her. "Multidimensional hopping." Tony said.

"Oh." Was all Pepper could reply. And yet, she couldn't say she was surprised. "Why?"

"Izuku. He isn't from this dimension. He kept talking about heroes that don't exist and schools that were never built. Hell, nobody in Japan has records of him ever existing. And Pep," his voice got lower, "He doesn't know about... about Thanos."

Pepper held her husband at arms length. "Did you tell him?"

"No," he admitted. "Mostly because I didn't believe it myself. But it just... nothing else makes sense."

"Well I hope you get it sorted out," She kissed him. "And we can send him back to his family."

Tony smiled, and attempted to return to his work, only to be stopped. "He doesn't have to get sent back tonight, Tony."

Pepper managed to tug the inventor away from his work, and the pair went to bed.

Pepper once again woke first in the morning, though not in the household. She was surprised to see an exhausted-looking Izuku hunched over the counter, staring through the window into the still-dark sky.

"What're you doing up?" She asked, as she fished through the fridge for milk. "I didn't get a lot of sleep."

"Why's that?"

Izuku looked at her, almost frightened, before blurting out, "I heard you! Am I-" he took a breath- "Am I really from a different world?"

Pepper paused. This certainly wasn't the conversation she had been expecting. "Well... it sure seems like it," she admitted, and hated how the boy looked absolutely devastated. In fact, it was hard to make out, but she thought she saw tears forming as the boy turned quickly away.

Pepper, acting on instinct, gathered the boy into a warm embrace, and heard as quiet sniffles turned into heart-wracking sobs. Izuku buried his head into her neck, soaking the collar of her sleep shirt. Of course, Pepper didn't care. She heard footsteps, and glancing up, she saw Tony standing confusedly in the hallway. Mouthing 'he knows', Tony nodded, and walked over to the pair.

"Hey, kid," he whispered softly, gently lifting Izuku's head and angling him so Tony could look him in the eyes. "We'll get you home soon, alright? I promise." Izuku nodded between hiccups and sobs, and Tony pulled him in close for a hug, rubbing the boy's back soothingly like he did for Morgan whenever she was upset.

The sobs slowly returned to soft sniffs, and Tony pulled away. "I got some hot chocolate stored somewhere. Makes me feel better. You want some?" Seeing Izuku's slow nod, Tony quickly set to work making a batch, while Pepper reappeared with tissues to try off Izuku's tears.

While sipping the drink, Tony offered to show Izuku his work station, which he quickly to.

It was very easy to impress a hero-loving kid, Tony decided. Anything Tony pulled out fascinated the boy, and sent him tumbling back into a mumble about the technology and potential uses besides what Tony had used them for.

The suits, of course, were the highlight. The nanotech boggled Izuku. Apparently the leaders of technology in Izuku's world- I-Island, according to the younger- were nowhere even close to what Tony had.

"I'd offer to trick out your suit, but you really don't have anything mechanical," Tony threw out during a lull in the conversation.

"Ah, th-that's not true!" The green-themed boy quickly corrected. "My boots have a system that lets me kick harder!"

"Really? Well, would you mind letting me peek around?"

Tony hadn't seen anyone move that fast in a long, long time.

When he returned with the suit, Tony noted the tears had vanished. Evidently, Pepper had fixed it in her spare time. Nonetheless, Tony began poking around the boots, scanning the mechanism and displaying the components in a hologram.

"Damn," he whistled, "That's really intricate work,"

Izuku launched into an explanation of how the creator's quirk, zoom, let her operate on super small scales, but Tony was only half-listening. Instead, he pulled the hologram apart, and said, "There."

"Huh?" Izuku wondered, having got cutoff of his tirade.

"See that spring?" Tony pointed to a small spring, nestled between two larger components. "It reduces the kickback for the user of the boot. Great addition, but the way that it got put it, the spring will snap from stress after too many uses."

Izuku glanced at the innovater. "How did you figure-"

"Only issue is, this unit is so tightly designed, changing it would mean reworking most of everything else. I could fix it, of course, but it'll take longer than I thought it would."

Tony leaned back, stretching, and looked to the confused boy. "And from a non-technical standpoint, ditch the bunny ears on your costume," he said, gesturing towards the fabric laying on a separate table. "It looks ridiculous, and I worked with a man who dressed in the American flag,"

Izuku blushed. "W-well, my mom made the original, a-and it's just been me and her for awhile, so I-I kinda wanna k-keep it for h-her, y'know?" he said sheepishly.

"Just you and her, huh?" Tony asked rhetorically, as images cross his mind of a boy from Queens with no family but his Aunt.

'Really' thought Tony grimly, 'The multiverse gave me the one that's just Broccoli Peter Parker.'

Before Izuku could ask about Tony's suddenly-downtrodden face, Pepper burst through the door with a surprising amount of intensity.

"Tony," she said breathlessly, and it was obvious that she got here was quickly as possible, "You have visitors." Tony frowned, and went out to meet the people he hadn't seen for five years: the Avengers.

When Pepper saw Tony again, he was chewing on lunch aggressively, with one hand stroking Morgan's hair. "Time travel." He looked Pepper in the eyes. "They want to time travel." He scoffed, threw down his sandwich, and pulled Morgan the smallest bit closer. "Ridiculous."

Not so ridiculous, apparently, he would later think, letting out a surprised "Shit!" as his model for traveling to alternate dimensions proved successful. After all, if time was a dimension, then time travel and dimension travel should be the same, no?

The next day, he grabbed Izuku by the arm, and the pair tore out of the cabin, raced down the freeway, and finally screeched to a stop in front of the magnificent Avengers estate. Izuku watched as Tony and a blonde man exchanged words, culminating in Tony handing the blonde a metal shield of some sort. He seemed hesitant to take it, but did with Tony's insistence.

Then, Tony swung open the door, and said, "You can out not, Greenie." Izuku, figuring that was his cue, shuffled out of the car, and mumbled to the man, "Ah.. H-Hi, I'm Izuku Midoriya."

Steve looked at Tony. "Again with the kids?" Tony put his hands up in defense. "This one came to me." When it became apparent nobody was going to explain the exchange, Izuku dutifully followed the seasoned heroes into the building.

It was there Izuku learned the full story of this world. Stones, gauntlets, an indescribable evil known as Thanos. The story shook Izuku to the core, and these people had lived it. Izuku wasn't entirely sure why he was there, until the end: these people were going to travel to other dimensions. And if they could do it, then so could he. He could see his friends again after nearly a week.

The ride home was mostly Izuku ranting about how cool everyone was. Tony smiled.

When Izuku returned to the compound again, it was several days later. He'd worn his hero suit; after all, today was when he was going to go home. The details of the plan had been worked out, along with the dimension hopping process. The teams would enter the other realms and gather the stones, return, and assemble them in a gauntlet. Before the gauntlet, however, Izuku would be sent back to his world. The Avengers lined up on the platform, and the blonde man from the other day gave a rousing speech. To Izuku, the entire process would take about a minute. Every second felt like an hour, and Izuku took his assigned job of 'don't touch anything' very seriously. He had absolutely no idea what to say when the party returned one short.

Izuku's warp was postponed to the next day. Understandably, everyone was too busy reeling from the loss of their friend to do any sort of work. Unfortunately for Izuku, their drive for justice meant that the gauntlet assembly was also pushed ahead of Izuku's return. The boy wasn't terribly upset, though. He was getting home soon, and he got to say hi to a few more pro heroes before he left.

They placed izuku from the gauntlet incase anything went wrong. He chose to stand as close as they would let him- if something went south, he could activate Full Cowl to grab someone and get them out. In the end, it wasn't needed, and despite the horrific sight of the giant- Hulk, was it?- getting his arm destroyed, everything went to plan. He joined another hero by the window, enjoying the now twice-as-frequent bird song.

Dust. It was all he could see. Dust. The birdsongs had disappeared, now replaced with rushing water and the groan of failing infrastructure. Distantly, he registered panicked shouts, but Izuku's ears rang too much to understand what was being said. He reached up to brush his forehead, noting how sticky it seemed. 'Ah, right, that's blood,' he noted in a manner far too calm and he pulled his hand back into his vision.

He honestly wasn't sure if he imagined the man that seemed to grow out of nothing. "Hey, kid, you with me?!" He asked in a panicked voice. Izuku nodded lazily. The man clad in a red and silver helmet let out a sigh. "Well, at least you're conscious."

"Listen, War Machine and Rocket are trapped down here, so just stay put, and I'll get us all out, okay?" The man disappeared again for several minutes, giving time for Izuku to clear the fog that had settled in his head. A concussion? Probably, but there were people in trouble here, and that meant saving them no matter what; even if he had to get saved first.

After some time, the man returned, along with a raccoon and someone in a tankier version of the Iron Man suit. "Okay, I'm gonna get really big now, and I probably won't pass out, but if I do, just try and not get squished," With those encouraging words, the man pressed a button, and suddenly grew large enough to fit the three other members in his hands. Izuku would know, that's exactly what happened.

What he saw next nearly made him weep. Heroes and armies lined up against the opponent that had bombed them to oblivion. Granted, they had their own army too, but Izuku was trying not to focus on it much.

And suddenly, they were all charging. Izuku activates Fual Cowl, and started fighting the endless horde of strange space dogs that Thanos seemed to have. The fight continued like this for what felt like years, the boy slowly getting more and more cuts along his body, until suddenly, the mothership that had been hovering overhead fired once more.

Izuku cowered as a blast headed toward him, but could only be awed as an orange hex-like symbol formed over heard and absorbed the blast. Eventually the assault let up, due to the ship disabled in spectacular fashion by a streak of pure power and energy and busted through the hull several times over.

The fight was a blur afterwards, but Izuku was tiring. He had been tapping in to One for All at nearly 8% the entire fight, and it was quickly wearing him down. It was no suppose when one of the beasts pinned him down. Izuku channeled power into his fist, but the swing was sluggish, and missed completely. The alien snarled and lunged for Izuku's face. Izuku closed his eyes, ready for the impact... and it never came.

Izuku allowed himself to open one eyelid, only to find the assailant had disappeared. Izuku sat up straight and looked around in confusion. Across the battlefield, he could see the enemy slowly crumbling, and being blown away in the wind. It was as if Shigaraki had grabbed each and everyone one of them.

Izuku stumbled through the battlefield, ignoring the dying lunges of the mindless monsters, and found a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

There, resting up against a piece of rubble, was a dying Tony Stark. Izuku hesitantly approached, only to be beaten there by collection of metal suits: one was with him underneath the rubble, Izuku recognized, but the others were foreign to him.   
Regardless, by the time Izuku had swallowed his anxieties and put on a strong face, the light in the armored hero's chest had flickered off.

Days later, The green-themed hero-in-training was standing on a small platform in the woods. He and Steve were traveling one last time: Izuku first.

As Hulk flipped some levers, Izuku spoke. "Uh, I-it was nice meeting you all," he began. "Maybe we will see each other again?"

A man off to the side with short hair and a disposition for jokes gave a semi-smile and said, "Kid, as much as I like ya, I really never want to deal with dimension hopping bullshit again."

"You weren't the one who actually traveled, Sam," Steve said.

"So what? Doesn't mean I wanna do it."

Hulk chimed in. "You're all set, Izuku. Whenever you're ready."

Izuku put on a determined face. "All right. Fire it up." He let out a shaky exhale, and gave a nervous smile. "Bye, everyone."

The world flashed, and Izuku felt a severe sense of disorientation. He grabbed the brick wall he was stood by, and took deep breaths. 'Wait, a wall?' Izuku thought.

He glanced up and looked around. It was an alley. No. The alley. Where he and his classmates got ambushed by the villain when they were out on a class trip. Where she grabbed Izuku. Where Izuku was suddenly sent freefalling through the forest tops of Georgia on a different Earth.

Izuku let out a laugh, part disbelief, part joy. Even more toward his good luck, Izuku's lost phone was buried in the same corner it had been kicked in the struggle. He picked it up, and nearly dropped into a prayer when he realized the thing still had charge on it. When he got home, he'd be thanking his mom profusely for that battery charger phone case she had bought for him.

'Speaking of Mom...' Izuku chewed his lip. 'Calling her might give her a heart attack. Who should I...?'

He scrolled through his contacts, before settling on the perfect choice. The phone rang only once before it was picked up.

"Midoriya." Izuku could pick out the subtle hints of relief and anxiety in the stoic boy's voice.

"Todoroki! Can, uh... can you come pick me up?"


End file.
